ROME — Tom Hanks will be feted with a lifetime achievement award by the Rome Film Festival, which has also booked Meryl Streep, David Mamet, Don DeLillo, and Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind for onstage talks at its upcoming 11th edition.
Hanks is expected to make the trek to the Eternal City event on Oct. 13, its opening day.
He is scheduled to hold a public conversation with fest artistic director Antonio Monda during which he will “reveal his favorite movie,” Monda said, adding that “it’s French.” The non-competitive fest which comprises the MIA market dedicated to movies, documentaries, TV and video games will run Oct. 13-23.
Besides receiving a career nod, Hanks will be honored with a 15-title retro of films in which he has starred. He will not be coming to the Rome fest to promote a movie.
At a Rome press lunch Monda told reporters that Streep will be holding forth on her love for Italian actresses, with Silvana Mangano, the star of neorealist classic “Bitter Rice,” among her favorites.
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Mamet will talk about the films he has written, and also directed; DeLillo about his passion for Italian master Michelangelo Antonioni; and Libeskind on movies and architecture. Monda called Libeskind “a Paolo Sorrentino fan.”
Monda, who is a New York-based Italian journalist, academic, and arts events organizer, and is now at his second edition at Rome’s helm, said he aims to “reinforce the red carpet” for the upcoming edition after his somber approach last year drew mixed reviews in the Italian press and calls for more stars. Having Hanks may help start solving that problem.
Monda refrained from revealing any film titles. He announced that the festival is organizing several retros, including one on “American Politics in the Movies,” timed as a preamble to the Nov. 8 U.S. elections.
The fest is also organizing an international panel on film criticism and its role and relevance in the changing global media landscape. The fest has recruited New York Times chief film critic A.O. Scott, author of recently published “Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think about Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth.”
